BAGHDAD, 18 May 2006 — Iraq’s Parliament is expected to vote on Saturday on a new government in which the country’s main religious and ethnic groups will share power, officials said yesterday, signaling an end to months of political paralysis.
As Saddam Hussein’s trial continued in a heavily guarded Baghdad courtroom, Iraq’s prime minister-designate put the finishing touches to a unity government Washington hopes can quell an insurgency that erupted after Saddam’s 2003 overthrow.
At least eight people were killed in two separate attacks in Baghdad and the town of Baquba north of the capital, underlining the security challenges facing the government led by Nuri Al-Maliki, a combative Shiite politician.
Communal violence has soared in the five months since an election that was hailed as a sign most Iraqis, including the once dominant and now rebellious Sunni minority, could come together within the US-sponsored political process.
Parliament Speaker Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani told lawmakers he expected them to vote on a new Cabinet in three days’ time.
